


Orange and Green, and Red All Over

by MegaWallflower



Category: Naruto
Genre: Autumn, Blushing, Childhood, Cute Kids, Fluff, M/M, POV Hatake Kakashi, piles of leaves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26742736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: Autumn is the season for giant piles of leaves.And giant leaf whirlwinds.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	Orange and Green, and Red All Over

The morning air was crisp and filled with the scent of fallen leaves and the general ambiance the season seemed to bring with it. Autumn filled the world with soft browns, reds and yellows. The weather was comfortable and pleasantly cool, the sky was just cloud enough to be shady but bright. A light breeze pushed them across the sky slowly.

The perfect season for reading, Sakumo had called it.

Kakashi shoved one hand into his pocket, held his book in the other and made his way down the path, feeling a small sense of satisfaction when the leaves crunched under his sandals. There was the occasional bird chirping in the trees, and a rustle as woodland creatures scurried about. Kakashi’s eyes were silently moving across the page.

It was mostly quiet. But Sakumo had apparently forgotten two things.

One, that there was never a particularly bad time for reading anyway. Kakashi could focus anytime, anywhere. He didn’t need a whole season for that.

And two, that no season could really be calm with the company they lived with in this village.

“Taijutsu Technique: Leaf Whirlwind!” A familiar, squeaky voice screamed at the top of its lungs.

Kakashi stopped and looked up from his book, just in time to spot the tiny Might kid leaping from his perch atop a tree branch.

Guy entered his field of vision with his feet already off the ground, wild grin on his face and eyes trained intensely on the massive mountain of leaves beneath him. A mountain that was easily several times the height of either boy. A mountain Guy disappeared in on impact, sending dead leaves flying all around.

Guy landed softly, muted and cushioned by the stack underneath him. In turn, the leaves scattered everywhere. A storm of leaves surrounded him. Guy was happy just lying on a pile on leaves, the sounds and smells of nature engulfing them. His big doe eyes sparkled in awe as he watched the brightly colored leaves flutter endlessly to the ground.

Kakashi figured that the other boy had probably been up since dawn, cheerfully setting about making the largest pile of leaves he was able to, just to jump in it. With a sigh, he noted that some people had less useful pursuits for autumn. Immature people, who Kakashi had next to nothing in common with. Kakashi brought his book back up and prepared to keep walking.

“…Oh, wait! Right!” Guy said to himself. “Leaf Whirlwind!” He declared again, scrambling to his feet and taking up a battle stance.

Kakashi spared him another glance.

He held out his arms spun around in circles to propel the leaves back into the air as they fell, apparently very dedicated to the “whirlwind” part of this technique. He did punches and kicks, and sometime just took a deep breath, screamed “Wind Release!” and blew out a gust of air, all in an effort to keep the leaves up for as long as he could. A handful of leaves fell in his face and he reeled back, an arm coming down to counterattack at nothing with a full swing that sent more leaves flying around him.

Guy was an excited, speedy blur of green among all the warmer fall colors as he darted around in circles, jumping into scattered piles of leaves and fighting to get the already airborne leaves up higher. He leapt from pile to pile, not waiting for the leaves to settle before jumping and spinning and kicking again. He rounded the piles and burrowed under another pile of leaves that dwarfed him, only to come spiraling out from the other side.

It was still a mystery how some little kid like Guy had been accepted into the academy in the first place. He blurred the line between training and games like some little civilian just playing ninja. No matter what his father had said, Kakashi had a hard time imagining that kid ever surpassing him. He trained hard, sure, but like everything about him, even his training was entwined with laughter and silliness. Kakashi rolled his eyes but closed his book and slipped it into his pouch.

He would admit (but not out loud) that Guy’s fighting form wasn’t terrible. His jumps were impressively high, easily over twice his height. His spinning kicks effortlessly whipped up gusts of wind in the aftermath. His punches were powerful and solid enough to force a leave back up without Guy having to touch it, whipping up substantial gales. Guy was putting quite a bit of force and speed behind the exercise. He kept it up for almost an hour.

When the whirlwinds around him had fully subsided and all the leaves had fallen back to the ground, Guy got on his knees and started gathering them together again, giggling to himself while he caught his breath.

Facing away and heavily focused on his task, Guy still hadn’t noticed Kakashi. He kept diligently pushing the last few remaining leaves back into the multi-colored pile in front of him and arranging new stacks of giant leaves to play in.

Fueled by a sudden, contagious, childish mischievousness, Kakashi snuck up behind Guy and shoved him into his latest pile. There was a moment of flailing and shouting. The dry leaves rustles and crackled as Guy made his way back out. His head popped out first as he burst free, taking a deep breath like he’d just submerged from water. Their eyes met and Kakashi silently acknowledged that autumn colors kind of suited Guy.

“What—Hey!” Guy spat out, along with tiny bits of dried leaves. Guy’s expression changed from pure confusion into barely contained glee-layered-shock when he saw who it was. His eyes were slightly wider than before, eyebrows slowly forming a smile, mouth fully agape. “—My Eternal Rival! You scared me! Sneaking up on me so… sneakily! Just what I’d expect from my rival!”

His hair was sticking out at weird angles, tussled by the training and decorated with leaves, but even with a couple strands falling into his eyes, Guy smiled with a grin brighter than the autumn sun.

Kakashi looked Guy up and down. Deadpan, he offered a backhanded compliment, “You look a little less tacky for once.”

Guy’s head tilted a little like a confused puppy before his smile returned full force. “What are you talking about, Kakashi?”

“This.” Kakashi leaned forward and looked Guy in the eyes while he plucked a vibrant red leaf from his black hair. “It matches your scarf. It’s the only thing on you that matches anything else you’re wearing.”

When Kakashi flicked the leaf back into the air, Guy dove to catch it. Once it was back in his hands, he twirled it between his fingers as he held it against the bandana he wore. He gasped, in awe yet again. “It really does! The village matches me, now! I’m a trendsetter!” He burst into laughter, cheeks turning rosy with glee.

The afternoon sun dyed Konoha in a golden hue, amplifying the flaming amber tones of the trees and Guy’s face. Right now, the whole world complemented him.

Kakashi reached out and mockingly patted his flushed cheeks. “Make that three matching things on you. You’re more red than green now.” Kakashi pinched and tugged at the baby fat. “You change color with the fall, too?”

A flush was climbing up Guy’s neck and to his cheeks and ears, tinting him redder as his rival squished his face. He puffed his cheeks to free his head, then dove back into the mountain of leaves. He rustled around for a few minutes before finally reemerging, bouncing back up to his full height and running to Kakashi.

“—Here!” Guy presented a leaf to Kakashi earnestly. “This looks like you! Your hair! Now you can be matching, too!”

Kakashi silently studied the leaf shoved in his face. It was a small, dead leaf, drained fully white, especially at its frayed tips. He answered with a nod as he slowly reached out to grasp it by the stem and turned it over in his hands. When he finally accepted the leaf, Guy’s smile grew wider. He was literally bouncing with glee.

Kakashi didn’t see the resemblance, personally. For a leaf to be this white, there was probably just something wrong with its tree. Guy waited expectantly for Kakashi to say something, doe eyes sparkling yet again.

_What a little kid._

Kakashi smirked and rolled his eyes. “I don’t need this,” he said, spinning it by its stem. “I’m not as tacky as you are, in the first place…”

“But you still took it! And it’s a rare treasure, like you! I haven’t found very many white leaves!” Guy bounced and cheered with glee. He spun and struck a pose. “Since you’re here, now is the perfect time for an autumn-theme challenge of rivalry, my dear rival! I’m preparing the perfect piles of leaves, and I bet I can keep the leaves up in the air way higher, way longer than you can!”

Kakashi blew air out of his nose in what was almost a laugh. He took out his book, pressed the white leaf between its pages, and returned it to his bag as he answered, “Fine. I guess, if I have to.”


End file.
